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BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: How about you? Do you believe in ghosts? The New York Yankees won the American League pennant last night late in the night, beating the Boston Red Sox again, a dramatic come from behind victory. And it may have been just a great baseball game, but as Josie Burke reports today, players and fans on both sides say there is something else at work in this series. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With one swing of the bat in the bottom of the eleventh inning, Aaron Boone ended an epic game and continued a running theme. His home run left the Yankees euphoric and the Red Sox heartbroken, again.

AARON BOONE, NEW YORK YANKEES: It's too unbelievable teams. It's almost a shame someone's got to lose. But it's kind of fitting, I guess, that it goes extra innings.

DEREK JETER, NEW YORK YANKEES: There's magical things that happen here. And the ghosts come out in October and they came out again tonight.

BURKE (on camera): Do you believe in curses?

JETER: I believe in ghosts.

JOHNNY DAMON, BOSTON RED SOX: We wanted to try to erase a curse and it seems like that curse is going to be with us for another year.

KEVIN MILLAR, BOSTON RED SOX: You saw a home run go in the eleventh inning, that was the ending of the game. There is no such thing as a curse. It was a great baseball game. You saw a great baseball game. You saw two teams out there competing their butts off. One guy hit a home run in the eleventh inning and they won.

BURKE: In Red Sox-Yankees lore, Boone will be remembered along with Bucky Dent, another New York infielder who provided a surprising burst of power to sink Boston. Only Boone did it in Yankee Stadium, where Babe Ruth once ruled and where he may still pull the strings.

BOONE: Well, we battled all year with them neck in neck and it come down to game seven and those extra innings. I mean I guess it's a perfect strip for everyone.

JETER: The rivalry adds to this. I mean game seven, Rock and Pedro. We didn't want to be the team that let the Red Sox go to the World Series. MIKE TIMLIN, BOSTON RED SOX: The Bambino never cursed the Red Sox. It's like that goat thing in Chicago, you know? It's not real.

BURKE (on camera): For those who don't believe in curses, consider this. On Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs were five outs away from reaching the World Series with a three run lead and their ace on the mound. On Thursday, the Red Sox were in the exact same position. Conspiracy theorists, script writers and maybe even baseball historians would argue that the Marlins and the Yankees had them right where they wanted them. Josie Burke, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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